Newtown girls top Bunnell to claim fifth seed in SWC playoffs

Published 12:47 am, Friday, February 21, 2014

NEWTOWN -- Cassie Ekstrom emerged from the Newtown locker room wearing a silver tiara and holding two containers of cupcakes, a gym bag and a very oversized pair of purple plastic sunglasses.

Even during celebration time it appeared Ekstrom was more than willing to help carry the load for the Newtown girls basketball team.

The senior captain deserved to have some fun after providing a full-court effort that helped propel the Nighthawks to a pivotal 51-37 South-West Conference victory over Bunnell Thursday night. Ekstrom finished with a game-high 20 points, 16 rebounds and five steals. There were no statistics kept for the havoc the captain caused on defense, the turnovers she helped create, and the constant effort she showed trying to chase down every loose ball.

"It's what we want to do all the time," said Ekstrom. "If there's a loose ball, we expect to go get it. We are an athletic enough team to be in position."

The victory allowed Newtown to secure the No. 5 seed in the upcoming SWC tournament. Newtown (10-10 overall, 10-5 SWC) will play No. 4 Pomperaug in the quarterfinals Saturday at 5 p.m. at Lauralton Hall in Milford. The Nighthawks lost both games to the Panthers during the regular season, dropping a 43-38 non-league decision on Jan. 18 and a 52-41 loss at Pomperaug High on Feb. 8.

"We knew this was a big game for us," said Ekstrom of facing Bunnell. "If we didn't win we would have dropped to the eighth seed, but we have showed all year we can play with anybody."

A fall to the last seed would have met facing No. 1 Lauralton Hall, which went a perfect 15-0 against the SWC. Instead, the Nighthawks were able to send out Ekstrom and fellow classmate and captain Mary Jo Rossi out with a win on Senior Night.

"Those two girls have been great for us," said fourth-year Newtown coach Jeremy O'Connell, who coached at Bunnell the previous eight years. "Mary Jo does all the little things to help us win and Cassie is poised beyond her years. She is a great leader."

Newtown led 28-17 at halftime, but Bunnell managed to hang around behind a tough defense and its ability to get offensive rebounds. The Bulldogs took advantage of a sloppy beginning to the second half and managed to pull within 30-25 after a basket from senior guard Jess Bogdwicz, who finished with a team-high nine points.

Ekstrom followed with a tough drive to the basket to ignite an 8-0 run to increase the Nighthawks' cushion to 38-25 with a little more than two minutes left in the third quarter.

"We played hard," said first-year Bunnell coach Meredith Pacelli. "We played hard all year and lost a lot of close games. I'm really proud of the team. It's just too bad we couldn't win another game to make the state tournament. I really wanted that for our seniors."

The Bulldogs said good-bye to senior captains Erin Koletar and Bogdwicz, who recently surpassed the 1,000th mark in career points.